Illuminated sign



H. M. FERREE ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed April 30, 1930 Patented Feb. 9, 19392 UNlTill PATENT OFFICE HOWARD M. OF JERSEY CTY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC "VAPEUR LAM? CMIPAl-TY, F HOBOKEN,

NEV JERSEY, .A CORPORATION 0F NEW LL'UMINATED SIGN Application filed April 30,

The present invention relates to electric signs, and particularly to signs in which an illuminated background is viewed through suitable openings in an opaque i'ace.

The object ot the present invention is to provide means whereby the background ot such a sign may be uniformly illuminated by a linear source et light, such as a straight gaseous electric discharge tube. Another` object oi the invention is to provide means whereby said source oi" light may be made to sin'iultaneously illuminate both sides oit' a suitable baille, thereby providing' the baci;- groiiind ttor a si gn which may be viewed 'from either side. @ther objects and advantages ot the invention will appear trom the following detailed specilication, or troni an inspection ot' the accompanying drawings.

Although signs have heretofore been constructed in which an illuminated plane dittusing reflector or background was viewed through suitable perlorations or openings in the tace et `the sign, these signs have not been entirely satisfactory, since for best results the light source had to be concealed :trom direct view, and hence was located outside ot the perforated area. lilith such an arrange nient it has been necessary to provide light sources on several edges ot 'the perforated legenc, since it is impossible to produce uni lorm illumination oit the entire sign when a single linear light source, such as a high inw tensity electric gaseous discharge tube, was used. Furthermore, separate light sources have heretofore been required for each side `ot a sign uit this type which was to be viewed i'rom more than one direction.

l have discovered that by providing` a refleeting bach round of novel construction not only may this dilliculty be entirely overcome7 but that a single linear light source may be made to provide unitoii'm illumination 'tor both sides oit a sign which may thus be viewed from either direction. its a result a considerable economy may be etlected in the production of this type ol? sign, since either :lewer light sources, or a simpler torni thereof may be used.

AFor the purpose ot' illustration l have shown a sign embodying a preferred form of 1930. Serial No. 448,478.

my invention, together with several variations thereof, 1n the accompanying drawings, in which lfig. l is a iront elevation, in part section,

oi a double faced sign with a ot background or baille,

Fig. 2 is an irregular sectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view to that oi Fig. 2 oi a sign having a modilied form of baille, and

Fig. l is an elevational view ot a face plate showing a modification in which a portion ot the bach thereol is painted black to aid :in producing unitorm illumination ot the baille.

ln these drawings, with special reference to Figs. l and 2, the two face plates l are attached in a suitable manner to the flanged spacer 2 with which they cooperate to form a box which is substantially light tight, except for the apertures 3 which form the sign, said apertures being formed either in he face plates l, or in interchangeable closures tor suitable openings in said face plates. Two standard Cooper Hewitt gaseous discharge lamps 4 of the hot cathode type are shown mounted on the spacer' 2 along a line midway between the t'ace plates l and below the apertures 3, although it is obvious that a single light tube of longer length could be substituted therefor, if desired. A, reflecting baille, which is conveniently formed of the two similar metal sheets 5 is suitably supported above the lamps 4l, with the lower edge thereof directly above said lamps. Each of said baille plates 5 is curved upwardly and outwardly in a curve which is so designed that the entire baille receives substantially uniform illumination from the lamps ll. Said baille plates 5 are each coated on the side toward the apertures 8 with a dillusing surface having the desired color characteristic, red being especially suitable, for instance` where neon is employed in the lamps, while the tace plates l, spacer 2 and other interior parts are either white or the same color f, s the baille plates 5. The usual auxiliary apparatus for lamps of this type, including transformer, resistances, inductance, shifter, etc., is mounted in a casing 6 which is convenientpreferred form simple form of baffle may ly located in the space above the baflle plates 5, and as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 this makes a very compact unit with all space therein utilized to advantage.

Vhile the curvature of the surfaces of the baille plates 5 which would .be required for absolute uniformity of illumination would be very complex, and therefore difficult to construct, it has been found that a simple surface, approaching 'the form of a segment of a cylinder which-would pass. through the axis of the lamps 4, gives an approximation there of which is entirely satisfactory for commercial purposes. In some cases an even more be used with good results. As shown in Fig. 3 the metal sheets 5 `comprising the baille are each constructed with two plane surfaces, intersecting at a slight .-angle, so that they roughly approximate the continuously curved metal sheets 5 of Figs. l and 2. A somewhat marked con-- trast in 4illumination tends to develop at the intersection of the plane vsurfaces V.with this construction, which is overcome by suit-able reectors 7 which are designed to direct light from the lamps 4 to that surface of the baffle which has the lower intensity of illumination near said intersection.

Some variation in the intensity of the n illumination of the baii'le plates 5 adjacent tothe .ends of the lamps 4 is inevitable when simplified baffle surfaces such `as have been described are used, but this variation is not ordinarily particularly noticeable. When f desired, however, this effect may be largely overcome by painting a `portion of the back of each face plate l black, the remainder being a good reflector. As shown in Fig. 4 the two areas 8, each of which is located adjacent to the central portion of a lamp 4 and near the bottom edge of a face plate l are thus painted in order to absorb light which would otherwise be reflected -onto the baiile plate 5 back of the letters C and E Where the intensity would otherwise be greater than that on the remainder of the baffle. Reflectors may also be placed at the ends to redirect some of the light to points of lesser intensity.

lVhere it is necessary ,or desirable to protect the interior of the sign from the weather the apertures 3 may be closed with suitable transparent or opalescent glass sheets, as shown at 9 in Fig. 3.

In the use and operation of the device of Figs. l and 2, the lamps 4 being lighted in the usual manner, .the light therefrom is divided .evenly between the two sides of the sign. A considerable amount of this light strikes the baffle plates 5 directly, causing a substantially uniform illumination thereof. The White interior of the sign, aided by a the intensity Without markedly aecting the uniformity of the illumination. As a result the sign, when viewed from either side, presents a luminous legend of substantially uniform intensity. During the daylight hours the sign is also effective since thelbackground absorbs `all the incident light save that of its characteristic color, which alone is reflected. In the modification of Fig. 3 substantially the same result is produced, since the light reflected from the reflectors 7 assists in the production of a substantially uniform illumination on the reflecting baffle.

In the modification of Fig. fl, which may "be used with either of the foregoing structures, the black areas S reduce the intensity of the light on highly illuminated portions of the baffle to the intensity prevailing on the remainder of said baffle through reducing the light .reflected to said portions.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in connection with a double faced sign using a definite type of light source, it is Vobvious that it is not limited thereto, and that various changes, omissions, and substitutions, within the scope of the appended claim, may be made in the illustrated structure without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

An illuminated sign comprising a substantially light tight box having apertures constituting a legend in the face thereof, a substantially linear light source vWithin said box, and a Vdiffusing reflector for said light source, said reflector being visible through said apertures, the inner surface-of saidface being a good reflector except for that portion thereof which is adjacent to the central part of said linear light source, said portion being a poor reflector., whereby the light 4reliected to said diffusing reflector from the inner surface of said box renders the illumination of said diffusing reflector more uniform.

Signed at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, `this 28th day of April, A. D. 1930.

HOWARD M.

parabolic reflector below the lamps 4, where desired, lalso serves to reflect lmore of the light back onto said baffle, thus increasing 

